XXXVIII. Fire

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A guard, upon Lance’s orders, had stolen and threw a torch to the rubble buried Cerberus. The beast was a threat that needed to be dealt with, but a low risk measure needed to be chosen. Hence, instead of surrounding the Cerberus with guards and stabbing it with spears, it was absurdly safer to just throw a torch and light it on fire. That way, if the Cerberus was only pretending to be fallen, the guards would be in a safe position and the Cerberus wouldn’t be able to immediately attack and kill them.

Freya, whilst beating the bandits and mercenaries, watched the burning moment by moment. From how the torch was thrown, to the fur catching fire, and the now burning Cerberus. She thought of burning the beast herself before Lance ordered a guard, but she was unsure if it was a good idea. For one thing: the beast might actually be unconscious, and the fire could just be like a warm morning sun waking it up. Though, she felt deep inside a doubt: the three headed hound couldn’t have fallen and defeated with just an attack made with Celeste’s sheathe.

‘It would be great if the fire kills it,’ Lance who was fighting beside her said.

‘Yes,’ Freya agreed, ‘but I do not think that’s how this battle is going to end.’

‘… I share the same thought, but can’t help on being hopeful. The number of opponents are declining, if the Cerberus is dead, then victory is guaranteed.’

‘I suppose so.’ Still, I do not think this battle would end like this, Freya thought. She didn’t say it out loud; as it might decrease Lance’s moral. In a battle, motivation to fight was important. A person without the will to win wouldn’t win.

As Freya was battling against the bandit, swinging Celeste’s sheathe to beat them one by one, her swing came to a stop. She caught a movement in the corner of her eyes. A movement that demanded her to shift her focus.

A bandit saw the opportunity and swung his torch at Freya, only to be stabbed by Lance’s spear. Lance saw the oddity in Freya’s sudden halt and looked at the direction she was looking: the burning beast, still buried under the rubbles.

‘What’s wrong?’ Lance had to ask.

The question didn’t register into Freya’s ears. Her focus had shifted onto the beast. The wind wasn’t blowing, so the movement she just saw coming from the beast couldn’t have been caused by the wind. When a body burn, the muscles would react to the rise of temperature and that could cause it to contract or expand, causing movement. Freya considered that, as the beast was clad in fire, but she instead thought of the worst outcome.

‘Lance.’

‘Yes?’

‘Get away.’

‘What?’

Freya, short on time, couldn’t even explain. ‘Get away… now!’

The beast, realizing that Freya knew that it was faking on being unconscious, rose up from the rubble and turned its heads, those sinister glowing red eyes immediately spotted Freya. It had been keeping Freya’s presence on check, hence why it was able to know where Freya was at. The burning Cerberus glared at Freya with eyes filled with anger, locked onto Freya, as if she was the only person there in that vicinity. Should the Cerberus rush again at Freya like before, a battle would occur. The same trick of using the blade as a distraction and hitting with Celeste’s sheathe wouldn’t work twice on the beast. Also, if they were to battle there, their fight wouldn’t leave the others in that area unharmed, and Cerberus would claim lives with it’s claws and fangs.

The beast was focused on Freya.

Thus, she turned, showing her back to the beast, and made a run.

The burning Cerberus, as expected, chased her.

***

‘Ray Astralis… I have seen your face in the newspaper before,’ Vath said. ‘The prince and the would be King. I have always— wondered what it’s like being at the top. From that height, aren’t we like ants to you? A being so small that we’re insignificant. You’ll step on us, but never realize you did. Now… here you are… a pathetic being, at my mercy.’

Ray was sitting on the ground, his back on the wall, his right hand was broken. Although the situation was desperate, fire was still in his eyes, of resistance. Ray spat blood to Vath’s shoe.

That plucked a nerve, but having the upper hand, Vath restrained his fury.

‘Your leader is fighting at the library. That leader of yours won’t save you now. I could torture you, but I’ll kill you on the spot. You should be thankful, Ray! I’m doing you a favor! This way, you won’t see the death of your girlfriend!’

Ray looked at where Dunnford and Elaine was, they were nowhere to be seen. Backed into a corner, Ray had to assume that Elaine was smart enough to run away from the building. That way, he could feel safe activating his Bloodline Magic. He would steal the lives inside the building, but Skulls’ leader would be included in the count.

‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ Ray said.

‘Lovers quarrel all the time Ray, they do,’ he said. ‘Any last words?’

‘Bur—’

Vath wasn’t such a kind man who would let Ray finish his last words. He pulled his leg and pushed it forward. A normal kick, as if he was about to kick an empty can on the road.

‘—n to ashes.’ Ray smiled.

Before Ray was able to activate his Bloodline Magic, someone tugged his leather armor and pulled him out from where he was; Vath’s kick missed and obliterated the wall instead.

‘Sorry for being late, Master Ray.’ Dunnford said, as he noticed how damaged Ray was.

‘Dunnford, you could move?’ Ray asked. Although there was lesser inscriptions on his body now, some magic formulae still remained.

‘I can move, but I can’t use magic. My Special Magic is fine, but I won’t be able to use Elemental Magic.’

How are you going to win then? Was a question that passed through Ray’s mind, but wasn’t uttered. Dunnford was someone who had experience in battle, he would run if the situation demands it, and fight if he had to. And when he fights to win, that means he has a plan to do so. He held his sword with both hands and pointed it at Vath.

‘You can’t use magic and your Special Magic is defensive in nature. Don’t you see how futile it is to fight me?’ Vath asked.

‘Isn’t that my question?’ Dunnford was not losing, not in battle, not in conversation.

Both of them were people who could not be cut. Dunnford with his Special Magic, and Vath with his Extinct Formulae Magic. How was one of them going to win, when they couldn’t harm their opponent?

Ray had seen Freya harming un-harm-able opponents twice; against Dunnford and Tatz. Right now, Ray couldn’t help but be excited to see how Dunnford was going to do that: harming the un-harm-able.

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